Corporate Contributions to Electoral Campaigns: The Current State of Affairs

Students of political finance as well as the public at large tend to take it for granted that large-scale campaign donations are motivated by the wish to influence the decisions of the recipients during the electoral season and their policies following them. In this sense, the common view is of campaign contributions as a form of investment aimed to secure economic gains at the expense of the public at large. Scholars have examined this issue empirically but have made contradictory findings: some have reported that electoral contributions influence policy outcomes and political decisions, while others have claimed the opposite. This study thus seeks to answer to what extent (if any) are corporate contributions to electoral campaigns reciprocated?